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The Journey to Becoming an Anti-Racist
As a black woman, I was tired of white colleagues approaching me to tell me that they were anti-racist. As if it was a sort of course certificate they got. We all know the certificates you get when you finish a short-term course or training. They typically read this certificate belongs to for completing X training.
After having further conversations with them, I realized that they had just started their anti-racist journey. Becoming an anti-racist is not a check box event. It's not reading a few books or having a few hard conversations where you don't feel as uncomfortable as you once would.
Becoming an anti-racist is a journey. It is a journey that most are really excited to start. You then get tired in the middle and wonder if it's worth it. You might even turn back when it gets hard and begin to face barriers and burnouts. But you will grow and develop lifelong changes by continuing on this journey.
Most of us might be familiar with the weight loss journey. Often, when you start on your weight loss journey, you are really motivated. You might throw all the unhealthy food out of your pantry and start exercising immediately. If you don't continue that journey, if you don't stay motivated, if you don't stay encouraged and constantly remind yourself why are you are on this weight loss journey, you tend to fall off. However, if you continue your journey, it becomes a part of your lifestyle. When it becomes part of your lifestyle, you are able to sustain your weight loss.
The anti-racist journey is similar; folks tend to get really excited when they start reading all the books and articles they can get their hands on. If you don't stay consistent on your anti-racist journey, you will fall back into your old way of being in that comfortable and familiar place.
Becoming an anti-racist takes knowledge, but most of all, it takes practice. You will stumble along the way, say the wrong thing, and lose close family and friends. But if you stick to your "why"; (your reason for becoming an anti-racist), the journey will become a part of who you are, a part of your lifestyle, your way of being. You will become more practiced at seeing what you could not see before. You will become closer to being an ally. You will also feel more relaxed and present in your body and more connected to humanity.
What does it mean to be an anti-racist? My colleagues Diana Sandoval and Rose Homme and I looked for a definition of being anti-racist. We were unable to find a suitable definition; therefore, we created our own.
An anti-racist is actively unlearning and examining ways that unconscious bias and society have upheld White Supremacy and separation, while gaining the ability to identify and change these systems of oppression in every facet of their lives.
This then shifts their mindset. An anti-racist recognizes that the work of undoing is active and constant.
Additionally according to wikipedia, anti-racism is a form of action against racism and systemic oppression of marginalized groups.
Being an anti-racist should not be and cannot be a check box item. It should not be and cannot be seen as the next cause to get behind. Becoming an anti-racist is active and constant it is a way of being.
Angela Davis says it best, "In a racist society, it's not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist."
Written by Kenesha Lewin